Vernon man buys $1M home; sues over missing table
A Vernon man that spent more than $1.1 million on a house has taken the seller to court because the purchase was supposed to include a cheap handmade dining room table.
Donald Hart paid $1,150,000 for the five-bedroom, four-bathroom Vernon property but was dismayed it didn't come with the dining room table as promised, so headed to the small claims court.
According to an Oct. 27 B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, Hart claimed $5,000 so he could purchase a similar table.
However, the Tribunal found the table was worth a fraction of that amount.
The decision said in October 2021, Hart made an offer to purchase the property from Sandra Kahle. The purchase included multiple appliances and the table.
According to the decision, Kahle said the table belonged to her tenants and shouldn't have been included in the contract of purchase and sale.
Kahle said she instructed her realtor, Michelle Ng, to remove the table as an included item in the contract but the realtor failed to do so.
However, the realtor denied she was told this and didn't know anything about the table until Hart took possession
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Kahle didn't dispute that she signed the contract and said she didn't notice the table was listed.
The decision said Kahle offered Hart $1,000 to save the time of going through the small claims court.
However, he refused.
Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled that while it was Kahle's mistake, Hart was still entitled to a table.
The court then looked at how much the table was worth.
Hart claimed a similar table crafted by a local woodworking company and made from fir would cost $5,000.
However, the decision said the table in question was handmade by the tenant, her ex-boyfriend and her children, none of whom had any woodworking experience.
The Tribunal said it's undisputed the table had "many defects" including a "warped top, seeping glue, wood filler used in some places, a bubbly and rough finish and various damage."
The Tribunal dismissed Hart's claim for a table made of fir and ruled the table was made of pine.
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Kahle and the realtor submitted several quotes for a handmade pine table for roughly $1,000.
The seller also argued the actual value of the table was anywhere between $0 and $300 based on Facebook marketplace ads.
"Hart says that Mrs. Kahle’s opinion about how much the table is worth does not change his impression of the table’s value and how it affected the offer he made for the property," the Tribunal said.
"However, I find a new custom table built by a professional would put Mr. Hart in a better position than if he had received the table in the sale. This would be unfair to Mrs. Kahle. Based on the table’s condition, the fact that it was undisputedly not built by a professional, (and) the various quotes and online sale listings of used wood tables."
Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled the table was worth $300 and not $5,000.
While Kahle had launched a counterclaim against her realtor, the Tribunal dismissed it, saying she'd failed to prove the realtor was negligent.
Ordinarily, the losing party would have to pay the $175 Tribunal fee to the winner, but the Tribunal ruled as Hart had refused the earlier $1,000 settlement offer he wasn't entitled to the reimbursement of his paid Civil Resolution Tribunal fees.
After spending more than $1 million on the house, the situation leaves Hart $125 better off.
"The whole thing has been very aggravating," Kahle told iNFOnews.ca. "There wasn't anything special about the table."
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